General Magnus
Magnus Pyram is a general of the Balthenos Empire, which reigns over the east side of the Geia Region. Straying away from the kingdom's own army, Magnus was one of the first founders (together with Vincent Firewing and Lycia Cloud) of an underground extremist group named the Virulent. He partook in almost every war against the neighboring kingdom, the Eldawn Legion, trying to create peace through the use of force. Origins Back then, the Geia Region was ruled under one emperor - Nezratu, an old alakazam with vast knowledge and wisdom. Upon his death, the region was split into two halves - Balthenos Empire, which took over the east, and the Eldawn Legion of the west. Despite this, all was at peace...though others called it a stalemate. Born a noble of the Balthenos Empire, Magnus had received decent training within the king's army as a child. He loved to set everything ablaze, sometimes even causing chaotic fires around the castle...which he was definitely proud of back then. His ambitions led one thing to another, and upon evolving into a magmortar, he was officially a general of the king's army, having power over most of the kingdom's troops. Hence, he was one of the most influential figures of that time. Personality He speaks for himself, really. Magnus is an intelligent general, yet is easily angered and thus tends to do things without second thought. Upon facing confrontation and disagreement, he would never admit to his own mistakes and takes his own ideas to new levels, creating a frightening cycle. His stubbornness has led many to doubt his actual capabilities of being a general, seeing how he can be easily influenced by emotions and greed. Appearance Magnus, like most magmortar, has two cannon arms for shooting flames, though claws can be pushed up from within to grab onto enemies. His flames are blue, suggesting a higher temperature than others of his kind. Lore ''Nezratu's Crown'' As a proud general of the Balthenos Empire, things began to go awry when Magnus' acts were frowned upon. Seeing how both kingdoms were at a stalemate, he was determined to reunite the region through war. This created friction with other figures in the Empire as his arson attacks around the outskirts provoked the enemy kingdom, and the aggressive movements of his troops came off as intimidating and threatening. Facing disapproval from the citizens of the land, a headstrong Magnus ordered the retrieval of Nezratu's Crown by robbing the past king's tomb. This holy crown, carrying significance throughout the history of Geia, gives immense status to whoever wears it. In other words, whoever possesses it has the right to rule the region. It is the only thing that could tilt the balance between the two equally strong kingdoms. Magnus' attempt had reached everyone's ears, and soon the Eldawn Legion responded with a declaration of war. By now, even Balthenos' king couldn't stop Magnus' complete control over his troops, regretting his decisions to give away such power. Meanwhile, Sushi (not to be mistaken with the reuniclus) - a traveler and collector, learnt about this crown and set off to watch this growing conflict. Both armies clashed at Nezratu's egyptian-style tomb with Magnus leading the Balthenos army. In the midst of the full-blown war, a snickering Sushi arrived with his signature green cloak and blended into the chaos. He snuck into the tomb, getting there before the rest, and managed to seize the crown for himself. When Magnus barged into the tomb, he had a brief encounter with Sushi, who was running away with the crown. After a small confrontation, Sushi managed to outspeed the general, disappearing from sight. Realizing that they now had nothing to fight for, Eldawn called back its troops - they had worried that the Balthenos Empire would use the crown to tip the scales, but they now knew that both sides were even once again. Due to a larger uproar from the public and the troops themselves, the king of the Empire was finally able to keep Magnus under control, sending him into exile. Since then, the two kingdoms have reached an agreement and have settled for a truce. ''The Virulent As expected, not everyone within the Balthenos Empire wanted peace - many believed that the entire region belonged to them. Exploiting this belief, Magnus stealthily snuck into various cities within the Empire, spreading his influence in the shadows. He promised them war, but one that the king couldn't control. Soon, together with a few underground figures (Vincent Firewing and Lycia Cloud), the Virulent was set up - an hidden group of extremists determined to cause chaos to the Eldawn Legion, disrupting peace through infiltration and sneak attacks. Magnus has since then launched several sneak assaults into Eldawn cities, setting fires to villages and reserves, leading to higher tensions between the two counters while the Virulent grows in size. ''Firelight Woods Months later, Magnus finally succeeded in finding Sushi and the crown. With the help of a rune-based teleport gate, he found himself at Firelight Woods, a strange land far away from his own. He began spreading wild blue flames across the forest, intending to flood out whoever was within it. Upon spotting Sushi, Magnus engaged Sushi in combat, successfully defeating him and his allies (Veia and others) momentarily despite the unfair advantage. However, the success was short-lived. Before he could take the crown home, Sushi, Veia and Lieutenant Prokyon seized Magnus by the rune gate, engaging in combat once again. Despite the advantage once again, the battle had been mostly even, until, that is, when Sushi managed to parry and hold against Magnus' attack while the others struck him from behind, leading to what seemed to be Magnus' demise as he used Explosion on himself. Whether he's truly dead or not is unknown. ''The Underground of the Virulent'' The Virulent has continued to grow in size, now spreading its influence to Eldawn. After Magnus' disappearance (or to others' knowledge - demise), the internal structure and goal of the Virulent began to change. Instead of focusing on attacking Eldawn to force a war (knowing it's probably hopeless), the organization has become so big and independent that it now has the power to sustain itself completely underground (known simply as the Underground), through massive networks of tunnels between the two kingdoms. Therefore, no longer siding with one kingdom, the terrorist group has began to unleash attacks on both kingdoms with the intentions of bringing them down. This has caused thousands of deaths above the ground while the kingdoms stand defenseless against the Underground. The black market has grown, and more and more citizens on the ground fear that the Virulent would strike them at any moment from the earth down below...